Sadia Khaqan Abbasi ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a Pakistani barrister and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She is currently a member of the country's

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

having been elected on a reserve seat for women in March 2021. She was previously elected as a senator in 2018 and 2003. In October 2018, she was disqualified by the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate ...

from her seat on the basis of having dual nationality (Pakistan and USA), in violation of the country's

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

. She is the sister of former Pakistani Prime Minister,

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Shahid Khaqan Abbasi ( ur, ; born 27 December 1958) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 21st prime minister of Pakistan from August 2017 to May 2018. Abbasi is the senior vice president of the Pakiatan Muslim Leagu ...

Political career

Abbasi was elected to the

Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly makes up the Parliament of Pakista ...

as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) on reserved seat for women from Punjab in March 2003 Senate election. In February 2009, she quit PML-N and resigned from her Senate seat shortly before the expiry of her term in the Senate after PML-N refused to issue her ticket for running in the March 2009 Senate election. In December 2011, she joined

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

in absentia, represented at the induction ceremony by her son Ossama Riaz. She was nominated by PML-N as its candidate in 2018 Pakistani Senate election. However the

Election Commission of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ; ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, ...

declared all PML-N candidates for the Senate election as independent after a ruling of the

. She was re-elected to the Senate as an independent candidate on a reserved seat for women from Punjab in the Senate election. She joined the treasury benches, led by PML-N after getting elected. She took oath as Senator on 12 March 2018. On 17 October 2018 the

disqualified the Senate membership of Abbasi over dual nationality.

2021 - 2027

Abbasi was elected to the Senate for a third, 6 year term on a reserve seat for women from

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in March 2021. She is a member of the following standing committees: Cabinet Secretariat, Petroleum, Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs. In late 2021, in the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, she tabled 2 proposed amendments to the Constitution including declaring a women's right to inheritance as a fundamental right. The proposed amendment read, “no women shall be deprived of her share from the inheritance in Pakistan” but was rejected by the Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, Sadia Living people Pakistani barristers Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Members of the Senate of Pakistan Women members of the Senate of Pakistan Punjabi people Sadia Year of birth missing (living people)